Gandalf Doesn’t Do Weddings.

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Ian McKellen says he turned down $1.5m (£1.14m) to officiate at Napster billionaire Sean Parker’s wedding dressed as Gandalf the wizard.

McKellen, who played the character in Peter Jackson’s Lord of the Rings trilogy, didn’t know the source of the offer when he was asked to marry Parker and his wife, singer Alexandra Lenas. The request came via a mutual acquaintance of Parker and McKellen’s, according to the Mail on Sunday. McKellen said he would have considered the offer if Parker hadn’t stipulated that he come in character.

“I don’t go dressing up, except in plays and things,” McKellen said. “So I said, ‘I am sorry, Gandalf doesn’t do weddings.’”

[…]

Even though Gandalf didn’t marry Parker,the real McKellen may be available for weddings: the actor qualified as a celebrant in 2013, which allowed him to officiate the civil wedding of actor Patrick Stewart and musician Sunny Ozell.

Via The Guardian.

A Classic Coulter Meltdown.

Image: Ann Coulter speaks to Fox News (Screen capture).

Image: Ann Coulter speaks to Fox News (Screen capture).

While demographic trends have shown that people of color are increasingly opposed to the predominantly white party and are growing in number, Coulter pins the GOP’s downfall not on Donald Trump but on Clinton’s “illegal” voters.

“If Hillary wins … she has said, Tim Kaine has said, amnesty for all illegal immigrants,” Coulter continued. “We know that’s 30, 40 million. She’s going to throw open the southern border. She’s going to more than quadruple the number of Muslim refugees we bring in.”

The ultimate result will be: “There will be no hope for any Republican ever winning another election,” she concluded. “There’s no point to what I do, what talk radio hosts do, what Fox News does,” she said. “Nobody goes to the game when you can’t win.”

Oooh, now that’s what I call a result! Of course it won’t happen, but we sure as hell can hope. The world would be so much better with such absences. Back to reality, there will never be a lack of things for the alt right to be hysterical over, because frothing and freaking out is the only thing they know to do. Well, that and whine about being persecuted.

Coulter seemed to be giving up on her crusade against the mainstream media. “I’ve been recommending that since the Mexico debate in his speech to get fair coverage. But I’m not sure it’s worth it,” Coulter said. “Because look, if he loses, Hillary has edge.”

That doesn’t mean Coulter wouldn’t take a job if Trump offered her a show on TrumpTV. “I would love to go into business with him,” she said.

She also noted that some have said that Trump has softened his immigration approach but they’re wrong. “If there’s one thing we’re going to get out of a Trump presidency, it’s a wall,” she said.

TrumpTV. Right, well that’s Fox 2.0 on steroids, ennit? Oh, that fucking wall. Why on earth are idiots everywhere enamored with this monumentally stupid idea? Absurdly, this whole wall thing, from the beginning, has brought that awful movie Pacific Rim to mind. Now, that flick was fun in the popcorn sense, but I about lost it when it spent all this time on people building this monumentally stupid wall, against massive, super-powerful critters, who of course, wiped out years of time and money wasted in no time at all. As soon as they showed people building that wall, I yelled “what the fuck are doing that for?” Anyone with sense could have said “that won’t work”. Well, this monumentally stupid wall won’t work either.

Full story here.

Coping With Cops.

Young Rita Waln led a procession of women and children who shook hands with officers at the ND Capitol after they held a demonstration to deny charges that weapons or pipe bombs were at the Lakota encampments along the Missouri River. About 200 water protectors took their message of peace to the governor that they are unarmed and peaceful.

Young Rita Waln led a procession of women and children who shook hands with officers at the ND Capitol.

Throughout the peaceful protest that water protectors are waging against the Dakota Access pipeline near the Standing Rock Sioux Indian Reservation, rumors have swirled about potential threats to public safety—rumors that have been refuted by numerous images and accounts of what is actually happening.

It started with claims on August 17 by Morton County Sheriff Kyle Kirchmeier that those standing against the pipeline were compromising safety and continued this past weekend, when North Dakota Governor Jack Dalrymple went so far as to declare a state of emergency across several counties in order to free up federal funds.

“They were preparing to throw pipe bombs at our line, M80s, fireworks, things of that nature, to disrupt us,” Kirchmeier told reporters. “And that in itself makes it an unlawful protest.”

Though Dalrymple stopped short of activating the National Guard, he issued an executive order implying that public safety was at risk.

[…]

With a gathering that has swelled to more than 3,000 people and counting, friction and conflict might not be out of the realm of possibility. But the opposite is in fact the case: accounts and pictures abound of police officers taking off their hats in respect for the daily morning prayers being conducted at the construction site; police shaking hands with a little girl; officers being smudged.

Here are six images of how the dynamics are really playing out on the ground, including one issued by the Bismarck Police Department itself.

Following two days of arresting protestors trying to stop an oil pipeline on Treaty lands, officers joined in morning prayers. As officers learned more about the Tribe's efforts to protect the Missouri River from oil leaks and contamination, many expressed personal support for clean water. (Photo: Courtesy No Dakota Access Pipeline).

Following two days of arresting protestors trying to stop an oil pipeline on Treaty lands, officers joined in morning prayers. As officers learned more about the Tribe’s efforts to protect the Missouri River from oil leaks and contamination, many expressed personal support for clean water. (Photo: Courtesy No Dakota Access Pipeline).

 

Officers removed their hats out of respect as a Lakota prayer song is sung as part of morning prayers at the site where construction was halted by water protectors. (Photo: Courtesy No Dakota Access Pipeline).

Officers removed their hats out of respect as a Lakota prayer song is sung as part of morning prayers at the site where construction was halted by water protectors. (Photo: Courtesy No Dakota Access Pipeline).

 

On day three, after realizing the water protectors are peacefully trying to protect their water from a Texas-based oil company, many officers chose to show respect for morning prayer songs and those who offered to smudge them. (Photo: Courtesy No Dakota Access Pipeline).

On day three, after realizing the water protectors are peacefully trying to protect their water from a Texas-based oil company, many officers chose to show respect for morning prayer songs and those who offered to smudge them. (Photo: Courtesy No Dakota Access Pipeline).

 

We Are Unarmed: After Morton Country Sheriff Kirchmeier said his agency received reports of pipe bombs and threats, Lakota women and children pushed back on those allegations with messages from elders, youth and women. (Photo: Courtesy Indigenous Environmental Network).

We Are Unarmed: After Morton Country Sheriff Kirchmeier said his agency received reports of pipe bombs and threats, Lakota women and children pushed back on those allegations with messages from elders, youth and women. (Photo: Courtesy Indigenous Environmental Network).

 

The Bismarck Police Department itself posted its own photo on Facebook after the same event, with this caption: “Demonstrators shaking hands with officers as event ends. No incidents and peaceful throughout. Thank you to all!” (Photo: Bismarck Police Department/Facebook).

The Bismarck Police Department itself posted its own photo on Facebook after the same event, with this caption: “Demonstrators shaking hands with officers as event ends. No incidents and peaceful throughout. Thank you to all!” (Photo: Bismarck Police Department/Facebook).

Full article at ICTMN.

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Although Dwight D. Eisenhower did not play a direct role in implementing Indian termination policies, he agreed in principle with the goals of termination.


Although Dwight D. Eisenhower did not play a direct role in implementing Indian termination policies, he agreed in principle with the goals of termination.

Dwight David Eisenhower was a 22-year-old linebacker for West Point when he skirmished with Jim Thorpe during a 1912 football game against Carlisle Indian Industrial School.

Thorpe, a member of the Sac and Fox Nation, was already famous, having won several Olympic gold medals and called the greatest athlete in the world by the king of Sweden. The November 1912 football game pitted the Army school against American Indians in a competition reminiscent of historic rivalries.

Eisenhower took the skirmish personally, Lars Anderson wrote in his 2007 book Carlisle vs. Army. Ever since he learned that the flagship Indian school’s football team would be playing at West Point, Eisenhower and his teammates made plans to stop Thorpe.

“A cadet would become famous, the Army players believed, if he knocked Thorpe out of the game with a hit so powerful it kidnapped Thorpe from consciousness,” Anderson wrote. Eisenhower, a blonde-haired, blue-eyed athlete, had been looking forward to the game for months and “fully expected to be the chosen one—the player who was going to deliver the knockout blow that would send Thorpe out of the game and into a hospital bed.”

The hit came early in the game. Eisenhower and another linebacker teamed up against Thorpe, throwing themselves as hard as they could at Carlisle’s most valuable player. Thorpe fumbled then writhed on the ground in pain, clutching his shoulder as Eisenhower celebrated.

But Thorpe recovered, and in a subsequent play he sidestepped when Eisenhower and a teammate again charged at him. The two linebackers collided violently and were removed from the game. Carlisle won, 27-6.

As President of the United States more than four decades later, Eisenhower took a similar stance toward Natives. During his tenure in office, Congress enacted three assimilation programs that dramatically changed the federal government’s relationships with Indians: terminating tribal sovereignty, relocating Indians to urban areas and transferring federal law enforcement jurisdiction on Indian reservations to the states.

[Read more…]

Fucking Assholes.

Hateful fucking bigots. *spits* Oh, and the military is flying copters over the camps. Armed helicopters. *spits again*

Lakota No Access.

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© Marty Two Bulls.

HUNKPAPA TERRITORY—John Eagle Shield Sr. of Standing Rock, one of several traditionally appointed camp leaders, estimated on Sunday August 21 that about 2,500 people were peacefully gathered amongst what has grown into three separate prayer camps. The mission of those gathered is to protect Standing Rock’s water from the environmentally disastrous Dakota Access Pipeline. The campsites are clustered on the west side of the Cannonball River just north of Cannon Ball, North Dakota, along the Standing Rock reservation’s northern border, where the pipeline is slated to cross.

[Read more…]

A Tale of Two Standoffs.

UrbanNativeEra.

UrbanNativeEra.

Jacobin has a good article up:

The federal response to Lakota protests against the Dakota Access Pipeline couldn’t be more different than their reaction to this year’s Bundy occupation.

[…]

The Lakota, on other hand, are resisting a real and all too familiar danger. Their numbers grow every day. And, unlike the standoff in Oregon, almost no major national news outlets are covering the story. This too participates in a great American tradition: the true fight against oppression is the one nobody notices.

Is that ever the truth. Mainstream media is doing their damndest to ignore us, to ignore the issue. Thanks to Michael McLean at Jacobin for a very good story. Go read, please!

Via Jo-Ellen’s petition.

The Sioux Chef: An Indigenous Kitchen.

Schef

I know I have been asking half the world of people lately, and yes, here I am again, asking. This too, is important. Chef Sean Sherman, Oglala Lakota from the Pine Ridge rez, wants to change a serious absence in the food scene. Where’s all the Indigenous food? Traditionally based indigenous food is delicious, healthy, and sustainable. This also marks a great potential for so many Indigenous kids, who are looking more and more to traditional foods, and would like to be able to earn a living cooking, doing what they love. The kickstarter for the restaurant is so close, so very close. If you have a few bucks, please become a backer in this most important venture. (Oh yeah, I’m a backer. I want travel over and eat, so gotta make this happen.)

There is a great deal of information at the site, so I’ll just include a bit here, but I’m putting up lots of photos of amazing, delicious food. Foooooooooood. If you haven’t eaten Indigenous food, seriously, you are so missing out. If we can get one Native restaurant up and running, others will happen. So please visit, and back if you can. If you can’t, please signal boost, spread the word everywhere!

Chef1

[Read more…]

Hamilton: Where Are the Natives?

hamilton-01-800-579x434

Dr. Adrienne Keene at Native Appropriations has tacked a tough question: where are the Natives in Hamilton? Indigenous people were, naturally, a very large presence during the actual time, and within the framework of the play everyone loves.

I have not seen the highly acclaimed, Tony-award winning, ground breaking, race-bending new musical Hamilton. Not due to lack of trying. I enter the digital lottery nearly every single day on my phone, though if I do somehow win it will mean the most panicked four hours of my life trying to get from Providence to NYC in time for the show. But that’s an aside. What I have done is listened to the soundtrack hundreds of times (not exaggerating), as well as listened to interviews of Lin Manuel Miranda on Another Round–we’re fellow Another Round alums!–and a couple other places.

I truly have had the soundtrack on repeat for months, including right now, except for “Quiet Uptown,” because sad. So, while I haven’t seen the show, I feel like I’ve consumed enough media surrounding the actual production to offer this review–or offer this question, really. But I will add these disclaimers: I have not seen the show. I have not read the HamilTome with insight from Miranda into the writing and production of the show. I have not read the Hamilton book that inspired the show. So, if I’m wrong or there are specifics I don’t know about, feel free to let me know (Or take me with you to see it? Please?).

But, I still feel qualified to ask: Where the heck are the Native people in Hamilton?

[Read more…]